JP2011141648A - Design assistance device and design assistance program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a user with a modified portion to be verified so as to be easily identified by a user during editing shape data. <P>SOLUTION: During editing shape data, referenced portions obtained by a referenced portion obtaining unit 11 are accumulated in a referenced portion accumulation unit 12. A portion that has been modified is obtained from new and old two shape data by a modified portion obtaining unit 13, and a determination is made as to whether a reference to the modified portion obtained by the modified portion obtaining unit 13 has been made by a reference determination unit 14, based on the information accumulated in the referenced portion accumulation unit 12. Information about the modified portion that is determined as having been referenced to by the reference determination unit 14 is displayed on a display 1e by a difference display unit 18. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a design support apparatus and a design support program, for example, a technology applicable when a single product is designed by a plurality of designers using CAD (Computer Aided Design).

  Today's product development is becoming more complex and larger, and multiple designers are often involved in the development of a single product. On the other hand, with the advancement of computer networks represented by the Internet, product development bases are dispersed in remote locations, and communication between designers who develop the same product has become sparse.

  When a single product is designed by multiple designers, arrangements are made in advance for the parts that each designer is responsible for and their boundary parts. Often it is unavoidable. When the arrangement of the boundary portion is changed, the designer needs to correct his / her design portion while referring to the portion changed by another designer.

  For example, consider that different designers are responsible for designing a product composed of two parts, an upper part and a lower part. In the design of the upper part, it is assumed that a part of the shape has to cross the boundary part with the lower part due to some factor. In this case, the upper part designer requests the lower part designer to change the design. Based on this request, the designer of the lower part changes the design of the lower part while confirming the shape of the upper part.

  At this time, if a PDM (Product Data Management) system is used, it is easy for the designer of the lower part to acquire and refer to the latest shape data of the upper part. However, it is difficult to grasp the changed part and the content of the change only from the acquired latest shape data. Therefore, as one function of the CAD system or the PDM system, there is one having a function of extracting a changed portion of shape data as a difference and presenting it to the user.

Hereinafter, three conventional differential display methods will be described by taking as an example the case where the design of the design target product is changed as shown in FIGS. 14 (A) and 14 (B).
14A is a diagram showing the design target product 100 before the design change, and FIG. 14B is a diagram showing the design target product 100 ′ after the design change. Here, in the design target product 100 ′ after the design change, a new element 101 is added to the design target product 100 before the design change, and the keyhole 102 provided in the design target product 100 before the design change. Has been deleted. In the design target product 100 ′ after the design change, the width dimension of the 6 × 4 key holes 103 ′ is larger than the width dimension of the 6 × 4 key holes 103 in the design target product 100 before the design change. The shape has been changed to be. Further, an element (power button) 104 ′ in the design target product 100 ′ after the design change is obtained by moving the element 104 in the design target product 100 before the design change. In addition, in the design target products 100 and 100 ′ before and after the design change, the edge cut-off portion (chamfered portion) is also changed.

(1) Difference Display by Shape Overlay As shown in FIG. 15, the display device displays the shape data before the change (image of the product 100) and the shape data after the change (product 100 ′) in an overlapping manner. Thus, the difference between before and after the change is expressed. That is, in the display device, the shape data before the change and the shape data after the change are drawn and displayed at the same position with different colors. For example, when the shape data before the change is displayed in blue and the shape data after the change is displayed in yellow, the unchanged portion is displayed in green because blue and yellow overlap. This allows a designer who refers to the display device to visually determine a portion that exists only before the change, a portion that exists only after the change, and a portion that has not been changed. Since the designer can simultaneously refer to the shape data before the change and the shape data after the change, the designer can easily recognize the difference before and after the change. However, when the changed part is minute or behind another figure, the designer tends to miss the difference itself.

(2) Difference Display by Change Content List As shown in FIG. 16, the display device displays a list describing the changed content, thereby expressing the difference between before and after the change. At this time, when the designer selects an item on the list on the screen, the designer may have a function of highlighting a corresponding portion of the shape data corresponding to the selected item. However, the designer cannot intuitively understand which part of the shape data has been changed by simply referring to the list of changes displayed on the screen. Even when the corresponding part is highlighted, the designer needs to select an item to be highlighted from the list, and it is difficult to understand the entire change. In addition, since all changes are displayed in the list, the list is often huge, and important changes may be overlooked.

(3) Difference display by highlight of changed portion As shown in FIG. 17, in the display device, in the changed shape data (image of product 100 '), the changed portion is displayed in red, for example, with high brightness. By highlighting by display or the like, the difference between before and after the change is expressed. In this case, the designer can easily determine the changed part, but since the change contents such as how it was before the change and how it was changed cannot be read from this expression, separately, It is necessary to compare before and after the change. In addition, when there are many changed portions, the designer tends to miss a minute changed portion.

  On the other hand, for design change difference display, the following techniques are known that limit the number of differences to be displayed to a minimum. For example, in a connection diagram such as a circuit diagram, a technique for highlighting a portion having a meaningful change by mapping part information of two drawings to a semantic space and extracting a difference is known. Also, there is a technology for detecting an update location at a level suitable for calling an electronic document update by preprocessing for extracting an important part and a value determination unit for determining whether or not the extracted difference is a significant difference. Are known.

Japanese Patent No. 3761156 JP 2004-88651 A

  As described above, the difference between the shape data can be displayed by the CAD system or the PDM system, and the difference display is used in the collaborative design by a plurality of designers. However, in the conventional system, it is difficult to find the difference information required by a specific designer from many differences. For this reason, there has been a problem that the designer overlooks a change to be examined and a failure occurs.

The cause of such a problem is that a large number of differences are presented uniformly. There can be many changes by others, but not all of the changes need to be considered by the designer. Accordingly, among many changes, it is required to present only information regarding the changed portion that needs to be examined according to the designer.
The point that there are many points detected as differences is the same as the problem cited in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, but the shape data targeted by the present application is described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2. The disclosed technology cannot be applied.

Here, the reason why the techniques disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 cannot be applied to the shape data targeted by the present application will be described.
Patent Document 1 is a technique related to differential display in an electric circuit. In this technique, the connection points and connection lines of parts are classified and compared by paying attention to potentials, and semantic differences in electrical circuits are highlighted. On the other hand, since the present application is concerned with a CAD system that creates a three-dimensional shape, the concept of potential does not exist, and the technique of Patent Document 1 cannot be applied to the present application.

Patent Document 2 is a technique related to differential display for electronic documents such as Web pages and texts. Only changes in important parts in an electronic document are displayed as differences, a technique for identifying important parts from HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) frames, and a technique for determining important parts based on differences and natural language processing. Are disclosed. In other words, these techniques are based on text comparison and cannot be applied to the three-dimensional shape targeted by the present application.
One of the purposes of this case is to provide changes that need to be considered when designing shape data in a way that is easy for the user to grasp.

  The design support apparatus of the present case includes a reference site acquisition unit that acquires a site that is referred to during an editing operation of shape data, a reference site storage unit that stores a reference site acquired by the reference site acquisition unit, and two new and old shapes Reference presence / absence determination for determining presence / absence of reference to the changed part acquired by the changed part acquisition unit based on the information stored in the changed part acquisition unit and the changed part acquisition unit that acquires the changed part from the data And a difference display unit that displays on the display device information related to the changed part determined to be present by the reference presence / absence determination unit.

  In addition, the design support program of the present invention requires that the computer function as the reference site acquisition unit, the reference site storage unit, the changed site acquisition unit, the reference presence / absence determination unit, and the difference display unit.

  In the disclosed technique, information regarding a changed portion that the user needs to consider is extracted and displayed. Therefore, when designing shape data, it is possible to provide changes that need to be examined in a way that is easy for the user to grasp, and each user can reliably grasp the changes to the shape data by other users. it can. This makes it easy to find out the difference information required by each user from a large number of differences, so that it is possible to reliably prevent a situation in which a failure occurs due to a change overlooked by the user.

It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the design assistance apparatus of this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the design support apparatus of this embodiment with a functional structure. An example of shape addition in a product to be designed will be described. (A) is a perspective view showing the product to be designed before the design change, and (B) is a perspective view showing the product to be designed after the design change. An example of changing a shape element closed in a part of a design target product will be described. (A) is a perspective view showing a design target product before the design change, and (B) shows a design target product after the design change. It is a perspective view. In the design target product, an example of changing the shape elements related to other parts will be described. (A) is a perspective view showing the design target product before the design change, and (B) is the design target product after the design change. It is a perspective view shown. It is a flowchart explaining the reference site | part acquisition process in the design assistance apparatus of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the reference region database in the design assistance apparatus of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the difference display process in the design support apparatus of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the change content acquisition process in the design support apparatus of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the change content classification | category process in the design support apparatus of this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the example of a difference expression according to shape addition. It is a figure explaining the example of differential expression according to deletion. It is a figure explaining the example of differential expression according to movement. The example of a design change of a design target product is shown, (A) is a perspective view which shows the design target product before a design change, (B) is a perspective view which shows the design target product after a design change. It is a figure which shows the example of a difference display by the superimposition of a shape. It is a figure which shows the example of a difference display by the list of change content. It is a figure which shows the example of a difference display by the highlight of the changed part.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.
[1] Configuration of the Design Support Device of the Present Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the design support device 1 of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows the hardware configuration of the design support device 1 of the present embodiment together with the functional configuration. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the design support apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes at least a processing device 1a, a storage device 1b, a main storage device 1c, an input device 1d, and a display device 1e as hardware.

  Here, the processing device 1a is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or the like, the storage device 1b is composed of an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or the like, and the main storage device 1c is composed of ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM ( Random Access Memory). The input device 1d includes a mouse, a keyboard, and the like operated by a user (hereinafter may be referred to as “designer”), and the display device 1e includes a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and the like. It is constituted by.

  In the design support apparatus 1 described below, as shown in FIG. 2, a CAD system 10 is mounted in the processing apparatus 1a. Further, shape data (CAD data; including new and old two shape data) of the product to be designed designed by the CAD system 10 is stored in the storage device 1b. Then, the designer operates the CAD system 10 from the input device 1d such as a keyboard or a mouse, and designs the portion in charge of the design target product while referring to the processing result displayed on the display device 1e.

  The CAD system 10 is realized by the processing device 1a executing a predetermined program. The program is read from any one of the storage device 1b, the main storage device 1c, various external storage devices, various storage media, and executed. Further, the function as the design support apparatus 1 of the present embodiment may be realized as a function of another system that closely cooperates with the CAD system 10 or may be realized as one function of the CAD system 10.

  And in the design support apparatus 1 of this embodiment, while the processing apparatus 1a executes a design support program, the processing apparatus 1a functions as a component (see reference numerals 11 and 13 to 18) described later, and a storage device. 1 b functions as the reference site database 12. The differential expression data 22 is constructed by a differential expression construction unit 17 described later, displayed on the display device 1e after the construction, and stored and arranged in the main storage device 1c. In addition, although the reference | standard site | part database 12 is arrange | positioned at the memory | storage device 1b, you may arrange | position at another place via a network etc.

Below, the reference part acquisition part 11, the reference part database 12, the change part acquisition part 13, the reference presence determination part 14, the change content acquisition part 15, the change content classification part 16, the difference expression construction part 17, and the difference in the design support apparatus 1 The function as the display unit 18 will be described in detail.
The reference site acquisition unit 11 acquires a site referenced by the designer during the editing operation of the shape data, and the reference site database (reference site storage unit) 12 is the reference site acquired by the reference site acquisition unit 11. Is to accumulate. At this time, the reference part acquisition part 11 acquires the identification information of a reference part. Then, as described later with reference to FIG. 7, the reference site database 12 uses the identification information (identifier) of the designer who referred to the reference site as the identification information of the reference site acquired by the reference site acquisition unit 11. Are stored in association with each other. As described above, in the design support apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, during the design work by the designer, the reference part acquisition unit 11 constantly monitors processing instructions and the like from the input device 1d to the CAD system 10 and acquires the reference part. To do.

The reference site acquisition unit 11 will be described in more detail.
In the design work by the designer, the CAD system 10 is used to change the shape data. When changing the shape data using the CAD system 10, the reference site acquisition unit 11 determines the site that made the reference when the designer makes a significant reference to the site that is a part of the shape data. Information to be identified (identifier) is acquired.

Here, the significant reference of a part means a reference expected to be examined by a designer when a change occurs in a reference destination part. Examples of such references include those listed in the following items (a) to (d).
(a) When a shape is defined on the CAD system 10, reference to a part selected to be used as a basis for the shape
(b) Referencing dimension values used as elements for defining shapes
(c) Refer to site selection reference to measure distance, angle, etc. during examination, design, verification, etc.
(d) When combining multiple shape data and building larger-scale shape data, refer to the part to determine the position and posture of the shape data

  When a shape is defined using the CAD system 10, other shape data is often referred to as a shape standard [item (a) above]. In addition, a specific value is often not specified as a dimension value of a shape to be defined, but is often defined so as to refer to a dimension value of other shape data [item (b) above]. In such a case, some recent CAD systems automatically change to the shape of the reference source when the shape data of the reference destination is changed. However, even if changes are made automatically, it is necessary to consider whether the changes are appropriate.

  Even if a specific value is specified without defining it to refer to the dimension value of other shape data, the distance between parts using other shape data can be used as a reference for examination, design, and verification. An angle is often measured [item (c) above]. When a designer performs measurement processing with the CAD system 10, there is some intention of the designer. When the value obtained by the measurement process is changed by another designer, it is necessary to examine by the designer who performed the measurement.

  The design object is usually defined by combining a plurality of shape data. At this time, in order to determine the position and orientation of the shape data, a part of other shape data is often referred to [see item (d) above]. When the location of the reference destination is changed, the position and orientation of the shape data of the reference source are affected, so that the designer needs to study.

  The reference part acquisition unit 11 constantly monitors processing instructions to the CAD system 10 of the designer, and identifies the part when the designer makes a significant reference to the part of the shape data as described above. Get information.

  Information for identifying a site acquired by the reference site acquiring unit 11 is registered in the reference site database 12 in association with information (ID) for identifying a designer. As described above, the part acquired by the reference part acquisition unit 11 is a part considered to be considered by the designer when the part is changed. Since the information for identifying this part is registered in association with the designer's ID, it is necessary to notify the designer of the change when the part is changed by searching the reference part database 12 and to promote the examination. It can be determined whether or not there is.

  The display of the difference, that is, the display of the part subjected to the design change, is executed by the processing apparatus 1a according to an explicit instruction from the designer, or at some timing by the CAD system 10 (or the PDM system). Automatically implemented. In the present invention, it is not limited whether the difference display is performed according to a designer's instruction or automatically.

  When displaying the difference, two new and old shape data for comparison are required. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, these shape data are stored in the storage device 1b as CAD data 21, and these new and old shape data are usually sent via the CAD system 10. Accessed. Here, the old data is shape data when the designer makes a significant reference as described above, and the new data is the latest shape data that has undergone some design change after significant reference by the designer. .

  The changed part acquisition unit 13 acquires a part (changed part) that has been changed after being referred to by the designer from the old and new two shape data stored in the storage device 1b when performing differential display. More specifically, the changed part acquisition unit 13 compares the old and new two shape data, recognizes the changed part, and acquires information (identification information / identifier) for identifying the changed part. The information for identifying the part acquired here corresponds to the identification information (for example, see FIG. 7) acquired by the reference part acquisition unit 11 and registered in the reference part database 12.

  The reference presence / absence determination unit 14 determines the presence / absence of reference to the changed site acquired by the changed site acquisition unit 13 based on the information accumulated in the reference site database 12. That is, the reference presence / absence determining unit 14 determines whether or not the changed site has been referred to during the design before the change from the changed site acquired by the changed site acquiring unit 13 and the reference site database 12.

  More specifically, the reference presence / absence determining unit 14 is based on the information acquired by the changed site acquiring unit 13 for identifying the changed site and the ID of the designer who refers to the current difference display. Perform 12 searches. As described above, in the reference part database 12, information for identifying a part that the designer has made a significant reference is registered in association with the ID of the designer who made the reference. Therefore, by performing the above search, whether or not the changed part is a reference part referred to by the designer, in other words, whether or not the reference part referenced by the designer has been changed. Can be recognized.

  When a design change has been made to a reference site registered in the reference site database 12, it is necessary to inform the designer who has referred to the site of the change and encourage examination. The reference presence / absence determination unit 14 checks whether information identifying the site acquired by the changed site acquisition unit 13 is registered in the reference site database 12 to determine whether there is a significant reference to the corresponding site. judge. This is because when there is a significant reference to the corresponding part, it is necessary to display a difference regarding the part.

  The change content acquisition unit 15 acquires the change content of the changed part determined as having a reference by the reference presence / absence determination unit 14 from the two new and old shape data in the storage device 1b. Examples of the change content acquired by the change content acquisition unit 15 include, in addition to adding and deleting shapes, changing a dimension value, changing a reference destination such as a reference, and the like. Some recent CAD systems can acquire these changes. If these changes cannot be acquired by the CAD system, all the element data constituting the shape data are extracted from the old and new two shape data, and the extracted element data are compared and matched between the old and new shape data. Thus, it is possible to acquire the change contents.

  The change content classification unit 16 analyzes and classifies the change content acquired by the change content acquisition unit 15 into a plurality of change types. That is, the change content classification unit 16 analyzes the change content acquired by the change content acquisition unit 15 and classifies the change content into a plurality of change types depending on what changes have been made to the changed part. . As the plurality of change types, for example, four types of “shape addition”, “deletion”, “shape change”, and “move” are conceivable. Classify into different types of change.

  Here, the four types of change will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5, the same reference numerals as those already described in FIGS. 14A and 14B indicate the same or substantially the same parts, and the description thereof will be omitted. 3A, FIG. 4A, and FIG. 5A show the product 100 to be designed before the design change corresponding to the old shape data. FIG. 3B and FIG. ) And FIG. 5B show the design target product 100 ′ after the design change corresponding to the old shape data.

  In a change content, when a shape that does not exist in the old shape data exists in the new shape data, the change content is classified as “add shape”. On the other hand, when the shape existing in the old shape data does not exist in the new shape data, the change content is classified as “deleted”. However, “shape addition” and “deletion” referred to here may not coincide with the processing in the CAD system 10. For example, FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an example of shape addition in a design target product. The changes shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B correspond to a process of “deletion” of the keyhole 102 as an operation in the normal CAD system 10. However, when considering an upper cover as an object, it is more intuitive to think that an object that closes the key hole 102 is added than to think that the “portion where the object does not exist” is deleted. is there. In such a case, the change content is classified as “add shape” as the change type. As described above, it is desirable that the change content classifying unit 16 classifies the change type so as to more suit the designer's intuition.

  In the content of the change, there is a corresponding shape in each of the old shape data and the new shape data, but the value of the element that defines the shape is different, and the range of influence due to the change in the value of the element is closed within the part. If so, the contents of the change are classified as “shape change”. For example, FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a modification example of a shape element closed in a part of a design target product. 4A and 4B, the dimension (width) of the key hole 103 in the upper cover of the calculator is changed from 9.0 mm to 10.0 mm. Although the dimension values defining the key holes 103 and 103 'have been changed, this change is closed to a part called a key hole and is not related to other parts. In such a case, the change content is classified as “shape change”.

  In the content of the change, there is a corresponding shape in each of the old shape data and the new shape data, but the value of the element that defines the shape is different, and the change in the value of the element is related to other parts If so, the change is classified as “movement”. For example, FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a modification example of a shape element related to another part in a design target product. 5A and 5B, the dimension value of the power button 104 in the upper cover of the calculator from the right end of the upper cover is changed from 6.0 mm to 50.0 mm. This change is related not only to the power button 104 but also to the right edge of the upper cover. In such a case, the change content is classified as “movement”.

  The differential expression constructing unit 17 constructs a differential expression for the changed part based on the classification result by the change content classifying unit 16 and the two new and old shape data. More specifically, the difference expression construction unit 17 obtains the difference expression data (data for realizing the difference expression) for the changed part according to the change type classified by the change content classification unit 16 from the old and new two shape data. Create and build. The differential expression data created and constructed by the differential expression construction unit 17 is stored in the main storage device 1c (see reference numeral 22 in FIGS. 1 and 2).

Here, as the differential expression data corresponding to the change type, the following animation data and image data are created and constructed.
When the change type is “shape addition”, for example, animation data in which the added shape moves from the outside of the shape data to the added position is created as difference expression data (see FIG. 11). .

When the change type is “deletion”, for example, animation data that is deleted after the deleted shape has moved to the outside of the shape data is created as difference expression data (see FIG. 12).
When the change type is “shape change”, for example, image data that highlights the shape change portion after superimposing the figures before and after the change is created as difference expression data.

  When the change type is “movement” and the movement distance exceeds a certain value, for example, animation data for moving a figure from a position before movement to a position after movement is created as difference expression data (see FIG. 13). . On the other hand, when the movement distance is less than a certain value, for example, animation data that moves the figure to a position exceeding the certain value and then returns to the correct position after the movement is created as difference expression data.

  Regarding the creation of the difference expression data, when the CAD system 10 has a similar function, the function as the difference expression constructing unit 17 is realized using the function. Even if the CAD system 10 does not have such a function, it is possible to acquire graphic information from the CAD system 10. Therefore, by applying a general CG (Computer Graphics) technology, the differential expression construction unit 17 The function as is realized. In addition, all the differential expression data mentioned above are examples, In this invention, it does not limit about differential expression data and its construction method.

  The difference display unit 18 causes the display device 1e to display information related to the changed part determined to have reference by the reference presence / absence determination unit 14. More specifically, the difference display unit 18 displays the difference expression data constructed by the difference expression construction unit 17 for each designer specified by the ID, that is, as information regarding the changed part for the specific designer. To display. At this time, the difference display unit 18 may display the difference expression data on a display device held by the CAD system or on another display device.

[2] Operation of the Design Support Device of the Present Embodiment Next, the operation of the design support device 1 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.
During the design work by the designer, that is, during the editing operation of the shape data 21, the reference part acquisition unit 11 always monitors the processing instruction or the like from the input device 1d to the CAD system 10, and information on the part that the designer has made a significant reference is provided. To be acquired.

  While the designer is using the CAD system 10, the reference site acquisition unit 11 constantly monitors the state (operation mode) of the CAD system 10 and the input of the designer. When a significant reference of a part is performed in (1), a reference part is extracted. Since the operation method is different depending on the CAD system, the processing content by the reference site acquisition unit 11 is also different for each CAD system. Here, a reference site acquisition process when a typical CAD system 10 is used will be described. Below, the reference site | part acquisition process is demonstrated according to the flowchart (step S11-S16) shown in FIG.

  In a typical CAD system 10, before a process is executed, a designer designates processing contents for the CAD system 10 and shifts the CAD system 10 to an operation mode for performing the process. For example, when the shape is defined, the CAD system 10 is shifted to the shape definition mode, and when the dimension is measured, the CAD system 10 is shifted to the dimension measurement mode. First, in step S11, such an operation mode is acquired.

  In step S12, it is determined whether or not the operation mode acquired in step S11 is a mode in which significant reference is performed by the designer. For example, the operation mode in which significant reference is performed includes a shape definition mode and a dimension measurement mode, and the other operation mode includes a change mode of the display device 1e. The reference site acquisition unit 11 stores in advance information about an operation mode in which significant reference is performed, and the operation mode acquired in step S11 corresponds to the information stored in the reference site acquisition unit 11. By determining whether or not, determination in step S12 is performed.

  If it is determined in step S12 that the operation mode is a mode in which significant reference is made by the designer (Y route in step S12), it is determined in step S13 whether or not the operation mode has ended. . When the operation mode is completed (Y route in step S13), the process returns to step S11, and the next new operation mode is acquired.

  On the other hand, when it is determined in step S13 that the operation mode has not ended (N route in step S13), the process proceeds to step S14, and the reference site acquisition unit 11 acquires the reference site. As a typical reference operation by the designer, there is a pick of a shape by a mouse (input device 1d). In step S14 (reference part acquisition unit 11), when such a pick operation is performed by the designer, acquisition of the reference part is performed.

  In step S15, the part identification information acquired in step S14 is created. If an individual ID is assigned to the reference site, the ID can be used as it is. However, depending on the CAD system 10, the reference part may be identified by combining a plurality of IDs such as a file name and other IDs. In step S15, necessary information is collected, and processing for creating information that can identify the reference site is performed.

In step S16, the identification information created in step S15 is registered and accumulated in the reference site database 12. At this time, the created identification information is registered in the reference site database 12 in association with the identification information (identifier / ID) of the designer who referred to the reference site, as will be described later with reference to FIG. Accumulated. After the process of step S16, it returns to the process of step S13 and it is determined whether the said operation mode was complete | finished.
Note that the processing in steps S11 to S16 described above is realized by the processing device 1a using the function of the reference site acquisition unit 11 described above, and is actually realized by the processing device 1a executing a design support program or the like. The

  Here, FIG. 7 shows a specific example of the reference site database 12 in the design support apparatus 1 of the present embodiment. In the reference part database 12 shown in FIG. 7, information for identifying a part to which the designer referred is recorded. In a certain three-dimensional CAD, an ID that is unique within the file is assigned to each type of graphic element. In such a case, it is possible to uniquely identify a part by a set of three information including a file name, a graphic element type, and an element ID. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, in the reference site database 12, the set of information including the three types of elements is registered as a record in association with information (user ID) for identifying the user, that is, the designer. . Here, the graphic element types include “point”, “projection”, “hole”, etc., in addition to “face” and “edge”.

  As described above, during the design work by the designer, information on the part that the designer has made a significant reference is acquired, and the information is stored in the storage device 1b in association with the designer's ID, A reference site database 12 as shown in FIG. 7 is created. On the premise of the existence of such a reference part database 12, the difference display process is generally started in the design support apparatus 1 (processing apparatus 1a) by an instruction from the designer. As described above, the difference display process may be automatically executed by the CAD system 10 at some timing.

Next, difference display processing in the design support apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 (steps S21 to S30).
In step S21, new shape data is acquired from the storage device 1b, and in step S22, old shape data is acquired from the storage device 1b. Usually, the new shape data used for the difference display is the latest data held by the CAD system 10 or the PDM system, and the old shape data is the data held by the designer (at the time of significant reference). Data). The processing in steps S21 and S22 may include processing for designating a version (version) to be compared for differential display and processing for extracting shape data of a specific version from a database such as a PDM system. However, these processes are not limited in the present invention.

  In step S23, the changed site acquisition unit 13 compares the new and old shape data acquired in steps S21 and S22, respectively, and acquires the changed site. In order to obtain the changed parts, there are two methods: extracting the graphic elements from the new shape data and the old shape data, comparing the information defining the graphic elements, and using geometric operations. It is done. Here, any method may be used as long as the changed site can be found. However, as will be described later with respect to the processing in step S27, there may be a case where a part is changed due to an influence of a change to another graphic element. Therefore, it is easier to use a geometric calculation here. It is thought that acquisition of the changed part can be realized. Both a method for comparing information defining graphic elements and a method using a geometric operation can be realized by using the functions of the CAD system 10.

  After the process of step S23 is completed, in step S24, it is determined whether or not a changed part is acquired in step S23, that is, whether or not there is a changed part. When the changed part is not acquired (when there is no changed part; N route in step S24), the processing device 1a ends the difference display process, while when one or more changed parts are acquired (there is a changed part). Case: Y route of step S24), the processing device 1a proceeds to the process of step S25. Thereafter, the processing device 1a executes the processing from step S26 onward for each changed site, and when the processing is completed for all the changed sites, the processing device 1a proceeds to the processing in step S29.

  In step S <b> 26, the reference presence / absence determining unit 14 checks whether or not there is a significant reference by the designer who is making a difference reference during the design work for the changed part acquired in step S <b> 23. When there is a significant reference, the identification information of the changed part is registered in the reference part database 12 in association with the ID of the designer who is currently referring to the difference by the process shown in FIG. Therefore, the reference presence / absence determination unit 14 checks whether the identification information of the changed part acquired in step S23 is registered in the reference part database 12 in association with the ID of the designer. You can see if there was a significant reference. When there is a significant reference (Y route of step S26), the processing device 1a proceeds to the process of step S27, whereas when there is no significant reference (N route of step S26), the processing device 1a returns to the process of step S25. While there are unprocessed changed parts (Y route in step S25), the processes in steps S26 to S28 are repeated.

  Of all the changed parts in the determination process in step S26, only the part that is significantly referred to by the designer proceeds to the process related to the subsequent difference display (steps S27 and S28), and no significant reference is made. The changed site is excluded from the processing target. By such processing, as described later, only a part to be examined by the designer is selected from a large number of changed parts, so that an effect of facilitating the examination of change contents can be obtained.

  In step S27, the change content acquisition unit 15 acquires detailed change content from the new shape data acquired in step S21 and the old shape data acquired in step S22 for the part determined to have reference in step S26. To do. When there is a change for one part, the definition information is changed due to the change in the information that defines the graphic elements that make up the part and the change in the graphic elements that are referenced by the graphic elements that make up the part. May be. Here, all the changes related to the change of the part are acquired including the change of the other part that affects the corresponding part.

  Here, according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 9 (steps S31 to S37), the process in step S27 of FIG. 8, that is, the change content acquisition process in the design support apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described. The process shown in FIG. 9 is executed by the change content acquisition unit 15 in the processing apparatus 1a.

  In step S31, a shape element (CAD data) corresponding to a part for which change content is to be acquired is acquired. In step S32, all information defining the shape element acquired in step S31 is acquired. The information includes, for example, dimensions such as width, depth, and height, information on the arrangement position, information indicating whether the shape element refers to other elements, and other elements. If there is, there is identification information that can specify other elements (reference destinations). In step S33, it is checked whether there is unprocessed information acquired in step S32. When there are no unprocessed items (N route in step S33), the change content acquisition unit 15 ends the change content acquisition process, while as long as there are unprocessed items (Y route in step S33), The processes in steps S34 to S37 are repeated.

  In step S34, the change content acquisition unit 15 checks whether the information defining the shape element currently being processed is information referring to another graphic element. If the information refers to another graphic element, that is, if there is a reference destination (Y route in step S34), the change content acquisition unit 15 proceeds to the process of step S35 and acquires the reference graphic element. Then, the change content acquisition unit 15 returns to the process of step S32, acquires information defining the graphic element of the reference destination, and selects the graphic element of the reference source for the information defining the graphic element of the reference destination. Perform the same processing as the information to be defined.

  If it is determined in step S34 that the information does not refer to another graphic element, that is, if there is no reference destination (N route of step S34), the change content acquisition unit 15 proceeds to the process of step S36 and is currently processing. Investigate whether the information has changed. If it has been changed (Y route of step S36), the change content acquisition unit 15 retains the change content for use in subsequent change content classification (step S37), and then returns to the processing of step S33. On the other hand, when it is not changed (N route of step S36), the change content acquisition part 15 skips the process of step S37 and returns to the process of step S33. And the change content acquisition part 15 repeats the process of step S34-S37 until the process of all the information acquired by step S32 is completed (until it becomes N determination by step S33).

  When the change content acquisition process in step S27 is completed as described above, in step S28, the processing device 1a (change content classification unit 16) analyzes the change content acquired in step S27, and changes the content of the part. Are classified into four types of change. There are four types of change in this embodiment: “shape addition”, “deletion”, “shape change”, and “move”.

  Here, according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 10 (steps S41 to S51), the process in step S28 of FIG. 8, that is, the change content classification process in the design support apparatus 1 of the present embodiment will be described. The process shown in FIG. 10 is executed by the change content classification unit 16 in the processing apparatus 1a.

  In step S41, the change content classification unit 16 checks whether there is an unprocessed one or more change contents acquired in step S27. As long as there is an unprocessed one (Y route in step S41), The following steps S42 to S51 are performed. If there is no unprocessed item (N route in step S41), the change content classification unit 16 ends the change content classification process.

  In step S42, the change content classification unit 16 checks whether the information defining the shape element corresponding to the change content exists in both the new shape data and the old shape data, and exists only in one of them. If not (N route in step S42), the process proceeds to step S43.

  In step S43, the change content classification unit 16 calculates a volume that increases or decreases due to the change. In step S42, since it is recognized that the change content to be processed is a change related to a shape element that exists only in new shape data or old shape data, in the change content, whether a shape element has been added, It is clear that either has been deleted. However, for example, even when a shape element is added, when a shape element with a positive volume such as a protrusion is added or when a shape element with a negative volume such as a hole is added You could think so. In any case, it is an addition when the shape element is considered, but it is natural that the addition of the hole, which is a shape element having a negative volume, is intuitively considered that the hole portion is hollowed out. In order to perform such intuitive classification, the volume acquired in step S43 is used.

  In step S44, the change content classification unit 16 determines whether the volume acquired in step S43 is positive or negative. If the volume is positive (Y route in step S44), the change content is classified as “add shape” (step S44). S45). On the other hand, when the volume is negative (N route in step S44), the change content classification unit 16 classifies the change content as “deleted” (step S46). When these classifications are performed, the change content classification unit 16 returns to the process of step S41 and continues the process of the next change content.

  When it is determined in step S42 that the information defining the shape element corresponding to the change content exists in both the new shape data and the old shape data (Y route in step S42), the change content classification unit 16 The process proceeds to S47.

  In step S47, the change content classification unit 16 checks whether the information defining the shape element corresponding to the change content corresponds to the part or another shape element referred to by the part. That is, the change content classification unit 16 determines whether or not the information to be processed is related to a reference destination part. If the part is of the shape element (reference destination) to be referenced (the Y route in step S47), the change content classification unit 16 proceeds to the process of step S48 and defines the shape element of the part that is the reference source. Get information.

  In step S49, the change content classification unit 16 determines whether the information defining the shape element is a dimension defining the size and shape of the shape element, or information defining the position of the shape element. . The information to be determined here is the reference source information obtained in step S48 when it is determined in step S47 that it is a reference destination, and it is determined that it is not a reference destination in step S47 (N in step S47). Route) is information currently being analyzed and classified.

  When it is determined in step S49 that the type of information is a dimension that defines the size or shape of the shape element (“dimension of the shape element” route), the change content classification unit 16 proceeds to the process of step S50 and performs analysis. The change contents are classified as “shape change”. On the other hand, if it is determined that the type of information is information defining the position of the shape (“shape element position” route), the change content classification unit 16 proceeds to the process of step S51, and changes the analysis target change content to “ Classify as “move”. When the above classification is performed, the change content classification unit 16 returns to the process of step S41 and continues the process of the next change content.

  As described above, when the analysis / classification process of the change contents in step S28 is completed and it is determined in step S25 that the processes for all the changed parts have been completed (N route in step S25), the processing device. In step 1a, the process proceeds to step S29. In step S29, the processing device 1a (difference expression constructing unit 17) constructs difference expression data according to the classification result in step S28.

  Here, the difference expression data is created for each change type and change part by using a method such as animation, color change / highlight, and shape superposition. Such differential expression data can be easily constructed from the new shape data and the old shape data acquired in steps S21 and S22, respectively, using the existing CAD technology or the existing CG technology. A specific method for constructing differential expression data is not limited in the present invention.

A specific example of the differential expression will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a differential expression example corresponding to “add shape”. As shown in FIG. 11, when the change type is “add shape”, for example, the added shape element (see reference numeral 101 in FIG. 14B) moves from the outside of the shape data to the added position. Such animation data (see the white arrow in FIG. 11) is created as difference expression data.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining an example of a differential expression corresponding to “delete”. As shown in FIG. 12, when the change type is “delete”, for example, the deleted shape element (see reference numeral 102 in FIG. 14A) moves to the outside of the shape data and then deleted. Animation data (see white arrows in FIG. 12) is created as difference expression data. In the above description, it is preferable that the deletion of the keyhole 102 is regarded as an object that closes the keyhole 102 is added. In FIG. 12, the deletion of the keyhole 102 is regarded as “deletion”. A differential representation is built.

  When the change type is “shape change”, for example, after changing the shape before and after the change, that is, the new shape data and the old shape data, the shape change point, that is, the difference portion is highlighted. Image data to be displayed is created as difference expression data. As the highlight display here, the color and brightness of the shape change portion are changed. Further, for example, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, when the width dimension of the key holes 103 and 103 'is changed, the key hole shape is changed in accordance with the size. Animation data may be created as difference expression data.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of differential expression corresponding to “movement”. As shown in FIG. 13, when the change type is “movement” and the movement distance exceeds a certain value, for example, a figure [reference numerals 104 and 104 in FIG. 5 and FIG. Animation data (see white arrows in FIG. 13) for moving “see” is created as difference expression data. On the other hand, when the movement distance is less than a certain value, for example, animation data that moves the figure to a position exceeding the certain value and then returns to the correct position after the movement is created as difference expression data.

  The differential expression data 22 constructed in step S29 in this way is stored in the main storage device 1c. In step S30, the difference display unit 18 reads the difference expression data 22 from the main storage device 1c, and displays the display device 1e as information on the changed part for each designer specified by the ID, that is, for a specific designer. To display.

  For specific processing relating to display, display functions such as graphics and animation in a normal computer system can be used. Moreover, the difference expression example demonstrated here is an example, and the difference expression method is not limited to the example demonstrated here. Furthermore, the specific display method of the differential expression is not limited to the display method described here.

[3] Effects of the design support apparatus of the present embodiment According to the design support apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the part that the designer made a significant reference by the reference part acquisition unit 11 during the normal design by the designer. Is acquired. Then, identification information that can specify the reference site is stored in the reference site database 12 in association with the ID of the designer who made the reference. Thereafter, when displaying the design-changed part (difference display), the reference presence / absence determining unit 14 searches the reference part database 12 to display the changed part acquired by the changed part acquiring unit 13. On the other hand, it is determined whether a significant reference has been made. Only the changed part that has been significantly referred to is displayed as a difference in the display device 1d.

  That is, only the part that the designer should refer to and examine is displayed as a difference, and the other parts are displayed as a difference without being displayed as a difference. Therefore, for the designer, only the part that needs to be examined for the change contents is presented as a difference, and the changed part that is not related to the designer and need not be examined is normally displayed in the changed state. For this reason, only the parts that the designer should consider from among a large number of changed parts are closed up, making it easy to examine the contents of the changes.

  Further, according to the design support apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the change content classification unit 16 classifies the change content into several types of change types, and the differential expression construction unit 17 constructs differential expression data corresponding to the change type. As a result, the difference (change contents) is displayed in an expression method suited to the designer's intuition according to the change type, so even if the change is made by another designer, the change contents can be easily It becomes understandable. That is, the designer can intuitively understand both which part is changed and how the part is changed.

  As described above, according to the design support apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, it becomes possible to provide a change content that needs to be examined in a manner that is easy for the user to grasp. The content can be grasped easily and reliably. As a result, it becomes easy to find out the difference information required by each user from a large number of differences, so that the influence of changes by other designers can be easily examined. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent a situation in which a failure should occur by overlooking a change that should be considered by the user, that is, the failure at the boundary between the designers that has occurred in the design by multiple designers is reduced. The

[4] Others While the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to such a specific embodiment, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It can be changed and implemented.

  In addition, the reference part acquisition unit 11, the reference part storage unit 12, the changed part acquisition unit 13, the reference presence / absence determination unit 14, the change content acquisition unit 15, the change content classification unit 16, the difference expression construction unit 17, and the difference display unit 18 described above. The functions (all or a part of the functions) are realized by a computer (including the processing device 1a, CPU, information processing device, and various terminals) executing a predetermined application program (design support program).

  The program is, for example, a flexible disk, CD (CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, etc.), DVD (DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD + R, DVD + RW, Blu-ray disc, etc.) And the like recorded in a computer-readable recording medium. In this case, the computer reads the program from the recording medium, transfers it to the internal storage device or the external storage device, and uses it.

Here, the computer is a concept including hardware and an OS (operating system), and means hardware operating under the control of the OS. Further, when the OS is unnecessary and the hardware is operated by the application program alone, the hardware itself corresponds to the computer. The hardware includes at least a microprocessor such as a CPU and means for reading a computer program recorded on a recording medium. The design support program is stored in the computer as described above.
The program code for realizing the functions as the above-described units 11 to 18 is included. Also, some of the functions may be realized by the OS instead of the application program.

[5] Supplementary Notes The following supplementary notes are further disclosed regarding the embodiment including the above-described embodiment.
(Appendix 1)
A reference site acquisition unit for acquiring a site referred to during shape data editing operation;
A reference site accumulating unit for accumulating the reference site acquired by the reference site acquiring unit;
A changed part acquisition unit for acquiring a changed part from the old and new two shape data;
Based on the information stored in the reference site storage unit, a reference presence / absence determination unit that determines the presence or absence of reference to the changed site acquired by the changed site acquisition unit;
A design support apparatus, comprising: a difference display unit that displays on the display device information related to the changed part determined to be referenced by the reference presence determination unit.

(Appendix 2)
A change content acquisition unit that acquires the change content of the changed part determined to have reference by the reference presence / absence determination unit, from the old and new two shape data,
A change content classification unit for classifying the change content acquired by the change content acquisition unit into a plurality of change types;
A differential expression construction unit that constructs a differential expression for the changed part based on the classification result by the change content classification unit and the old and new two shape data;
The design support device according to appendix 1, wherein the difference display unit causes the display device to display the difference expression constructed by the difference expression construction unit as information on the changed part.

(Appendix 3)
The plurality of change types are at least four types of addition, deletion, shape change, and movement,
The design support device according to attachment 2, wherein the change content classification unit classifies the change content into the four types of change types.
(Appendix 4)
The design support apparatus according to supplementary note 2 or supplementary note 3, wherein the differential expression constructing unit constructs a differential expression for the changed part according to the change type classified by the change content classifying unit.

(Appendix 5)
The design support device according to any one of Supplementary Note 1 to Supplementary Note 4, wherein the reference part acquisition unit acquires, as the reference part, a part that a user makes a significant reference during the editing operation of the shape data.
(Appendix 6)
The design support apparatus according to appendix 5, wherein the significant reference is a reference that is expected to be examined by the user when a change occurs in a reference destination part.

(Appendix 7)
The reference site acquisition unit acquires identification information of the reference site,
The reference site storage unit stores the identification information of the reference site acquired by the reference site acquisition unit in association with the identification information of the user who referred to the reference site,
The design support device according to any one of appendix 1 to appendix 6, wherein the difference display unit causes the display device to display information on the changed site for each user specified by the identification information of the user.

(Appendix 8)
A reference part acquisition unit for acquiring a part referred to during shape data editing operation;
A reference site accumulating unit for accumulating the reference site acquired by the reference site acquiring unit,
Changed part acquisition unit for acquiring a changed part from old and new two shape data,
Based on the information stored in the reference site storage unit, a reference presence / absence determination unit that determines the presence or absence of reference to the changed site acquired by the changed site acquisition unit, and
A design support program that causes a computer to function as a difference display unit that causes a display device to display information regarding a changed site determined to have a reference by the reference presence determination unit.

(Appendix 9)
A change content acquisition unit that acquires the change content of the changed part determined to have a reference by the reference presence / absence determination unit from the old and new two shape data,
A change content classification unit that classifies the change content acquired by the change content acquisition unit into a plurality of change types, and
As a difference expression construction unit that constructs a difference expression for the changed part according to the change type classified by the change content classification unit based on the classification result by the change content classification unit and the two old and new shape data And making the computer function,
9. The design support program according to appendix 8, wherein the difference display unit causes the computer to function so as to cause the display device to display the difference expression constructed by the difference expression construction unit as information relating to the changed part.

(Appendix 10)
The plurality of change types are at least four types of addition, deletion, shape change, and movement,
The design support program according to appendix 9, wherein the change content classification unit causes the computer to function so as to classify the change content into the four types of change types.
(Appendix 11)
The design support according to Supplementary Note 9 or Supplementary Note 10, wherein the differential expression constructing unit causes the computer to function so as to construct a differential expression for the changed part according to the change type classified by the change content classifying unit. program.

(Appendix 12)
Any one of the appendixes 8 to 11, wherein the reference site acquisition unit causes the computer to function so as to acquire, as the reference site, a site where a user has made a significant reference during the editing operation of the shape data. The design support program described in the section.
(Appendix 13)
The design support program according to attachment 12, wherein the significant reference is a reference that is expected to be examined by the user when a change occurs in a reference destination part.

(Appendix 14)
The reference site acquisition unit acquires identification information of the reference site, and the reference site storage unit uses the reference site identification information acquired by the reference site acquisition unit to reference the reference site And storing the computer in association with the identification information of the user, so that the display unit displays information on the changed site for each user specified by the identification information of the user. The design support program according to any one of appendix 8 to appendix 13, which is caused to function.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Design support apparatus 1a Processing apparatus 1b Storage apparatus 1c Main storage apparatus 1d Input apparatus 1e Display apparatus 10 CAD system 11 Reference part acquisition part 12 Reference part database (reference part storage part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 Change site | part acquisition part 14 Reference presence determination part 15 Change content acquisition part 16 Change content classification | category part 17 Difference expression construction part 18 Difference display part 21 Shape data (CAD data)
22 Differential expression data 100 Design target product before design change 100 ′ Design target product after design change 101 Additional element 102, 103, 103 ′ Key hole 104, 104 ′ Moving element (power button)

Claims (6)

A reference site acquisition unit for acquiring a site referred to during shape data editing operation;
A reference site accumulating unit for accumulating the reference site acquired by the reference site acquiring unit;
A changed part acquisition unit for acquiring a changed part from the old and new two shape data;
Based on the information stored in the reference site storage unit, a reference presence / absence determination unit that determines the presence or absence of reference to the changed site acquired by the changed site acquisition unit;
A design support apparatus, comprising: a difference display unit that displays on the display device information related to the changed part determined to be referenced by the reference presence determination unit. A change content acquisition unit that acquires the change content of the changed part determined to have reference by the reference presence / absence determination unit, from the old and new two shape data,
A change content classification unit for classifying the change content acquired by the change content acquisition unit into a plurality of change types;
A differential expression construction unit that constructs a differential expression for the changed part based on the classification result by the change content classification unit and the old and new two shape data;
The design support device according to claim 1, wherein the difference display unit causes the display device to display the difference expression constructed by the difference expression construction unit as information on the changed part. The plurality of change types are at least four types of addition, deletion, shape change, and movement,
The design support device according to claim 2, wherein the change content classification unit classifies the change content into the four types of change types.   The design support apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the difference expression constructing unit constructs a difference expression for the changed part according to the change type classified by the change content classifying unit. A reference part acquisition unit for acquiring a part referred to during shape data editing operation;
A reference site accumulating unit for accumulating the reference site acquired by the reference site acquiring unit,
Changed part acquisition unit for acquiring a changed part from old and new two shape data,
Based on the information stored in the reference site storage unit, a reference presence / absence determination unit that determines the presence or absence of reference to the changed site acquired by the changed site acquisition unit, and
A design support program that causes a computer to function as a difference display unit that causes a display device to display information regarding a changed site determined to have a reference by the reference presence determination unit. A change content acquisition unit that acquires the change content of the changed part determined to have a reference by the reference presence / absence determination unit from the old and new two shape data,
A change content classification unit that classifies the change content acquired by the change content acquisition unit into a plurality of change types, and
Based on the classification result by the change content classification unit and the old and new two shape data, as a differential expression construction unit that constructs a differential expression for the changed part, the computer to function,
The design support program according to claim 5, wherein the difference display unit causes the computer to function so as to cause the display device to display the difference expression constructed by the difference expression construction unit as information on the changed part.

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